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Cities and towns throughout Nagano put on fireworks displays in summer. It’s a great excuse to wear a colorful yukata (summer kimono) and enjoy the relatively cool evening ambience. The grand-daddy is the Lake Suwa Hanabi festival, held every year on 15-August. It boasts over 40,000 fireworks reflecting in the lake surface. Then in early September, a separate display featuring a competition of Hanabi-shi (professional pyrotechnics) takes place. For details, see the official website.

Below is a picture of this year’s Chikuma River Fireworks Festival at Onsen Town Togura-Kamiyamada. It’s about the 1/4th the size of Lake Suwa’s, but is an area favorite because the viewing are is so close to the action and the sound reverbrates off the surrounding hillsides, making for a very dynamic display. The grand-finale includes a cascading ‘Niagara’ of fireworks along the upriver bridge (to the right in the picture). It is held every year on the 7th of August. (Photo is actually by my son, Andy, taken from the Kannon-ji Temple on the castle hill behind town.)

We are creating lots of cultural exchange programs which allow travellers to interact with the locals and experience the unique culture of Chino area. Paving the way to the discovery of the “authentic” Japan!